Italian sprinter Marcel Jacobs, Tokyo Olympic champion in the 100 meters last summer, made a successful return to competition after winning the same distance at his country’s Savona event on Wednesday.
Jacobs, 27, crossed the line in 10.04 seconds with the help of the wind in the final in front of a small crowd in a low-profile meeting on the Italian coast, having clocked 9.99 seconds in qualifying earlier in the day.
Jacobs, who also won gold in the 100m 4x relay with the Italian team in Tokyo, was scheduled to compete in Nairobi last weekend and face off against American Fred Curley, silver medalist in the 100m at the Tokyo Olympics.
However, he withdrew due to stomach pains, which delayed his return to a modest meeting under the sun in Italy.
After crossing the finish line, he appeared with a hand on the small of his back and demanded the intervention of a physiotherapist.
“I thought I would run better, even from a technical point of view,” he told Ray Sport after winning. July in Eugene, Oregon.
Last March, he won the 60m World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, beating 100m World Champion Christian Coleman of the USA.
Source: El Iktisad